Massachusetts preschools, daycares face ‘frustrating’ staffing shortages - Boston Herald
By Amy Sokolow
Although childcare workers and experts have warned of a staffing shortage for years, the crisis is now being felt more acutely than ever before as the school year ramps up.
“Pre-COVID, there was a waitlist for kids to come in and all of the classrooms were up and running,” said Jennifer Curtis, executive director of South Shore Stars, a non-profit organization that hosts early childhood and youth programs.
Now, she said, “two of our early childhood programs… have classrooms that remain empty because we still have staffing needs.”
According to a study released earlier this year by the Boston Opportunity Council, Boston saw an 11% drop in the number of seats available for children since the end of 2017, and had permanently lost 13% of its licensed childcare programs that were open pre-pandemic.